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saying “wa maghfiratuh”

Question #2: “What is the authenticity of adding wa maghfiratuh[1] in offering the salaam and responding to it?”

Shaykh al-Albaani (rahimahullaah) answers:

“There is no addition (of wa maghfiratuh) in the hadeeth with respect to offering the salaam; i.e., if a person starts with offering the salaam, he ends at wa barakaatuh: asalaamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. And the hadeeth that has come – or in more precise words, (the hadeeth) that was narrated – (stating) that at the fourth time, the fourth of them said, asalaamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh wa maghfiratuh, then this is a weak narration. As for the addition (of wa maghfiratuh) in the response to wa barakaatuh, then it is established; i.e., a man says, asalaamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh, then we add wa maghfiratuh in the response…

It is in agreement with the noble Qur’aan (with) the saying ‘When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally.’[2] So if the greeter gives the salaam, saying asalaamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh, the aayah that stated ‘greet in return with what is better than it’ is not invalidated; this command still exists, which is (followed by saying) wa maghfiratuh. This addition (with respect to responding) has also been mentioned in…narrations established from some of the Companions.

So we have brought out a conclusion whose summary is that adding wa maghfiratuh in the response is allowed and starting (the salaam with it) is not allowed.”

[1] saying ‘and His Forgiveness’ after the greeting ‘may Peace, Mercy and Blessings of Allaah be upon you’
[2]Surat un-Nisaa, 4:86

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4 thoughts on “saying “wa maghfiratuh””

Abu Abdullahsays:

assalamu alykum warhamatullahi wabrakatuhu

Akhi/ukhti i recently learnt from one of the salafi daees that adding wa maghfiratuhu in the response was at first deemed permissible by Shaykh al Albani. Then later he retracted and then later he made it clear that even this addition is not permissible and is a bidah. I hope you would clarify this for me and would please re edit the post. Because at times our respected scholars (may Allah have mercy on them all) issue fatawas and after further learning they issue a contradictory fatawa so we as seekers of knowledge shud refer and take into recognition what they said then and what they say later. I dont know whether my info was correct but i hope you could look further and clarify this as we are responsible also for our dawah. Pls do not take this as a criticism you are doing a great job Allahumma barik and May Allah reward you in abundance. I gained a lot of knowledge thru these translations alhamdullillah and please do get back to me if i have made a mistake and please clarify for me. Jazakallahu khair and Barakallahu feek.

as for what you said, then yes i know that this story has been going around (that the shaykh retracted), however, in response to this, i will leave you with brother Moosaa Richardson’s post, which he posted not too long ago, in March 2009:

“Shaykh al-Albaanee (may Allaah have Mercy on him) changed his positions on certain issues, and his writings show clearly that he loved the Sunnah and he loved that this Ummah follow the Sunnah, and that he he had no problem in clarifying all details when he changed positions on an issue. This is what is well known from this great imaam.

The shaykh knew that many people all over the world only learned about adding “wa maghfiratuhu” through him, so he would have certainly written or said something about it if he changed his position!

…Two of the shaykh’s students, Shaykh ‘Alee al-Halabee (may Allaah correct his affairs) and Shaykh Mash-hoor Hasan (may Allaah preserve him), are quoted confirming that the shaykh did not change his position on the issue. Refer to this thread for Shaykh Alee’s words specifically (since there is a claim he said otherwise):

Sheikh Al-Albani did not retract his position on this issue. Initially he classified the chain of the hadith to be authentic, but then he realized a weakness in the chain. So he declared that the chain of the hadith was weak, yet he still remained upon his opinion that it is authentic based on the verse in the Quran as well as other authentic narrations from some companions, so based on all of this evidence he said it strengthens the text of the hadith and he says that it is permissible to add “wa maghfiratuhu” when returning the salam. So the sheikh never retracted his opinion on this issue, but the confusion came about because he changed his classification about the chain of one of the ahadith which mention the addition of maghfiratuhu, yet even though he changed his classification of the chain only, he still remained of the opinion that the text of the hadith is authentic due to other supporting proof.